


While I Rest, Sound Asleep

by BenjiBunnie



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Creepy, Dreaming, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Horror, Mindfuck, Nightmares, Non-Euclidean, Psychological Horror, Spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26295463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenjiBunnie/pseuds/BenjiBunnie
Summary: Dreaming or Awake, neither Roy nor Riza can tell.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye & Roy Mustang
Comments: 11
Kudos: 21





	While I Rest, Sound Asleep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SiryyGray](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiryyGray/gifts), [vermellion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vermellion/gifts).



> TW// Implied panic attack, disassociation, false realities, nightmares, claustrophobia, and being trapped
> 
> Thanks to SiryyGray for editing this work! She has some amazing fics so please check her out! After this of course...

It was later than usual, Colonel Roy thought to himself as the clock on his wall ticked on past 0300. Funny enough, revolutions are a lot of paperwork. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, staring at the Amestrian words that began to blur. The office was quiet, everyone had gone home. 

_ Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.  _

“God, maybe I should call it a night huh.” Roy sighed, signing the last paper in a stack before putting away his pen. He let his shoulders relax, feeling the built up tension from the night’s work start to seep out of him. Just as he began shuffling the papers together, he heard a noise. 

_ Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. _

Must have just been his imagination. The rustling continued as he put the last few papers into a nearby drawer and then he heard it again. It wasn’t the tick tock of the clock, or the swishing of the papers. 

_ Skkkkkkktch.  _

Roy looked at the door. The clock still ticked away, echoing through his skull. 

_ Tick. Tock. Skkkkkktch sketch Tick.  _

The sounds layered and Roy was now sure, below the clock his door stood, and that’s where the scratching was coming from. The scritching and clawing at the door. “What on earth-“ the Flame Alchemist whispered to himself as he approached the door beneath the ticking clock. 

There was nothing. An empty hallway devoid of light and life. Roy shook his head, just realizing how exhausted he truly was. Back in his office, he threw on his military jacket and began packing up his briefcase, but stopped cold in his tracks. 

_ Skkkkktch.  _

It was at the door again, scratching away, but no clock accompanied it’s symphony. It was silent. Save for the quiet and redundant clawing at the door. This time Roy ran over, and tore open the door. 

The hallway was the same. 

Nothing had changed, nothing at all. 

But why had the clock stopped. 

Roy looked down the hall, left and right, and once he was sure it was just the sleep deprivation playing tricks on him he turned to lock his office. 

_ Click.  _

The door was secured and locked, and Roy felt himself turn to rush home. 

_ Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.  _

The clock started up again. Why had the clock begun to tick again? 

Roy turned to face the door that was locked and reached for his key. Yet his pocket was empty, save for the lint that fell off the lining. Despite being the hardened war criminal he was, Roy began to feel cold. A single bead of sweat raced down his white face and sacrificed its meek existence to the floor. Breath that had been held for too long escaped Roy's chest. God, he just needed to go home and sleep, he might call in sick, explain that he had a striking fever and he needed the day off or that he was just too exhausted to come in to work. 

He laughed to himself knowing Riza would just assume he was hungover, and the rest of his team would probably be frustrated but would inherently understand and Fullmetal, if he was still in Amestris, would have given him hell and- 

Where was the door?

Roy stared at the cold brick wall before him, a wall that should have contained a large double oak door that led to the streets of East city. There was no door, nor arch, nor windows. Just the same stupid grey brick wall that lined all the walls in all the commands in Amestris. Suddenly, Roy’s militant instincts kicked in, ‘two can play this game’ he thought as he clapped his hands together. Readying himself with the thoughts of tearing down the limestone wall, he put his hands against the wall to finish the transmutation. 

The wall didn’t budge. 

Instead, it had only indented where his hands were. He starred in shock; his alchemy wasn’t working. No,  _ it wasn’t working right _ . 

He looked around and noticed alchemical scarring on a new wall. “Now I understand,” he smirked, controlling the situation grounded himself and gave Roy focus. “Someone must be redirecting my alchemy, somehow” he paused, “I need to get to the library, there must be something of use there” 

Now he knew what he was up against, and he had a plan. Left, right, straight down the hall. 

He ran to the library,  _ Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok.  _

The clock glared him down as he dashed past it, ignoring the repetitious noise. Eventually he approached the large oak doors of the library, opening them cautiously, but there was just another wall. Same stone brick, same grey colour that made Roy sick, for some reason. He began to inspect the wall. 

He needed to stay calm and focused. The wall in question had no alchemical scarring, and no marks to indicate was ever transmuted. It was just there, like it had always been there. Roy came to the sound conclusion he had just taken a wrong turn, and decided he should just try another way.

Heading down the hallway he heard the ticking again and decided not to follow it, the sound seemed misleading, as if to trick him. At last he found it, the door to his office. 

He knew he must have just messed up his directions due to exhaustion. But as the clock grew quieter-  _ Skkkkkkkktch - _ the scratching from before got louder. Roy found it hard to swallow as his eyes slowly faced the sound of the scritching. A supply closet at the end of the hall. 

_ Shrtch Skkkrtch.  _

The sound of nails on a chalkboard, grating at his mind. Rushing over, he yanked the door open to find-

-His office. Just the way he left it. 

_ Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. _

The clock began to tick away. He had just seen his office though, it was down the hall. He had looked through the window when he ran by, he  _ knew  _ it was there. No alchemy could have swapped rooms like that, not even with a damn philosopher's stone. 

Roy shut the door and let himself slide down it, crashing to the floor. 

_ Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.  _

He was so exhausted. It must’ve been closer to 0400 by now, dawn would approach soon. He crawled across the floor, to beneath his desk, curling up for the night. Roy closed his eyes, “People will be here in the morning, I just have to wait.”

The bells of the hour rang through the office, identifying the time to those who are there, in this case, Roy. 

_ Bong. Bong. Bong.  _

The bells stopped tolling. One. Two. Three. Roy counted again. One ring, two rings, three rings… where was the fourth? Eyes shooting open in fear, Roy starred at the clock. 

_ Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.  _

The clock on his wall ticked on past 0300, and Roy was staring at his paperwork on his desk. Gloved hands shaking, sweat racing down his forehead dripping on to his paper, blotting the ink where it hits. ‘What the fuck is happening right now’. The harshness of his rapid breaths were the only thing deafening the ticking of the clock.  _ Tick. Tock. Tick-  _ “Shut up!” Roy screamed, followed by a clap and a snap. 

The clock was set ablaze and plummeted to the floor. 

His breathing still ragged, his hair a mess. The clock melted, and the cheap paper hidden behind the class burnt away. 

The clock was finally fucking dead, and the ticking had ceased. ‘How the hell had no time passed’ Roy knew it had been at least an hour since he began trying to leave. 

“Dreaming”, he thought out loud, “I-I must be dreaming.” 

Roy shuddered at the thought. This was one hell of a nightmare and he desperately wanted out. Oh god he’d give up his eyes again if only to get out of this hellish dream. He felt that same desperation to run that he had felt during the Ishvalan War of Extermination, even though nothing could be more terrifying than that experience. 

Yet he still felt that same fear. The walls of his own office had begun to swallow him and the floor became an unfamiliar waste. 

His desk was off to, had the wood always been so poorly stained, with splotches of lighter wood here and there? Had his desk chair always been ripped? Had his walls always been this putrid shade of chartreuse, and had the wallpaper always been peeling? Had the rug been moldy and had his clo-  _ Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok.  _

Had his clock always been on the wall. The clock had just struck past 0300 again, and the office was back to normal. The nightmare kept on moving, and Roy felt his mind slipping. 

* * *

Riza had gone to bed in her house, she knew that for a fact, yet she was back in Eastern Command as if it was morning. She called for Black Hayate, but only her echo responded. ‘I must be in a dream’ Riza thought as she began moving towards her team’s office. 

The walls felt thinner than they should, Riza could stand in the middle and have her outstretched arms touch both sides. However, the closer she got to the office door, the smaller the hall felt. 

It shrunk and shrunk until she realized she had to walk sideways to get through it. The door upon arrival was too thin for even a broom yet inside she could hear commotion. 

_ Skkkkrttch skkkrrrrrtch-ch.  _

Clawing at the door could be heard. “Hayate? Is that you? Speak boy!” The scratching continued and not a whimper was heard. Riza tried the handle. It was unlocked and she went inside not even noticing the shift in width. The inside room was a large empty space, like a banquet hall, yet no music nor dancing filled the hall. 

Just silence.

_ Ding. Ding. Ding.  _

The clock struck three. 

And the scratching got louder. The echoing ricocheted throughout the hall, and the scratching got louder. It approached Riza and she  _ knew  _ it. Hawkeye whipped out a gun and aimed in the direction of the sound. 

The scratching got louder and louder and louder and louder and-

-“Lieutenant? When did you get in here?” Roy asked sitting at his desk alarmed. The gun was pointed straight at his head. She was in his private office. Smashed glass lay at her feet and she looked around in confusion. 

_ Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok.  _

“I-I’m sorry sir. I don’t quite remeber arriving. I was in a hall one moment and the next thing I knew, I was here.” She couldn’t figure out what to make of the situation. Carefully, she locked the safety on her gun and put it away. 

Roy laughed. “Don’t worry Lieutenant, must just be the stress of the workday, I’m sure Breda won’t mind taking on some extra work to help you out.” 

Shouts of protest arose from Breda, followed by the laughs of Falman, Fuery, and Havoc. The glass was gone. 

Riza denied his request, simply stating that she should get back to work. Paperwork rested in front of her at her desk, and she chuckled softly to herself. 

Lord, she must have been truly exhausted if she was daydreaming at work. 

The sheets in front of her were accounts of a recent mission, a domestic terrorist in Leore. As her pen streaked across the paper she felt herself ease, shoulders loosen, jaw unclench. Normalcy felt strange. 

_ Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok.  _

The office was quiet as she worked away. Work acting as meditation, she zoned out. Pen scritches, soft breathing, clock ticking, shoes scuffing,  _ scratching _ . She heard it again, and the office was empty. 

_ Skkkrtch skkktch  _ the talons shredded the wood on Roy’s desk. 

She could hear it, but the room was empty. Riza found herself backed in a corner with nothing to grasp on to. The fleeting semblance of peace replaced with the ever-present feeling of something evil. Something lurking beyond her vision. 

_ Skkkrtch skkrrrtcchhh. _

__ The grip this phantom sound had on her brain was growing tighter, more aggressive, and more harmful to her mental state. ‘This must be my punishment’ Riza’s laugh sounded like a cost, her eyes glazing over ‘for father’s work… and the war”. 

She no longer cared about the constant raking at her brain or the scenery that never stayed put. 

She could not find the strength in her to give a damn. She could feel a claw piercing her cheek, dragging its digit along her skin, her cheek opening up and pain searing her body.

“Lieutenant! Lieutenant! Riza!” The screams echoed in her brain. 

Her cheeks felt hot, buit inherently fine. “Riza is that you!” The screaming continued and her body began to shake. Something was forcing her to move. Opening her eyes, she saw a disheveled Roy, face scratched and eyes dark. 

He looked exhausted. 

Scratching repeating in her head,  _ Skkkrtch skkrrrtcchhh  _ she could barely hear the husk before her talking. Her eyes met his dead eyes and she sighed, 

“Could this dream get any worse? Look at him, you’re gonna attempt to torture me through his pain. Give me a break.” Riza didn’t know who she was talking to, God, Truth, whatever demon put her in this dream, or Roy himself. 

His complexion went pale, and Roy sank to his knees. Shaking and covered in sweat. 

“Wait… Lieutenant, ar-” his voice choked on the words. Eyes widening in sheer unnatural horror-

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

“Are you dreaming too?”..... 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Hope everyone enjoyed my first ever fic! If anyone wants to stop by to bug me on Tumblr, my user is Mossyfauns!   
> I'll keep y'all updated on future fics, and, like, other stuff.  
> Until then!


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